New Delhi: Veteran Pakistan batter Ahmed Shehzad slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday confirmed that the Champions Trophy 2025 will be played in a hybrid model. Shehzad believes PCB missed a golden opportunity to host the Indian team in Pakistan by agreeing to a hybrid model for the premier tournament.
The Champions Trophy 2025 will be played in a hybrid model after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused to send the Indian team to Pakistan. India will play their matches in the UAE while the rest of the teams will play their matches in Pakistan. Both the BCCI and PCB have also agreed that the same model will be followed for all ICC events in either of the countries till 2027.
Pakistan will thus play their matches at a neutral venue and not travel to India for the tournaments hosted by India till 2027. Reacting to ICC’s verdict after a long stand-off between the two boards, Shehzad said PCB should forget that the Indian team will ever come to Pakistan now as they have missed out on a golden opportunity.
“Pakistan had a golden chance to host India. All cricket boards had signed the agreement in 2021 that Pakistan will host the Champions Trophy. ICC cannot back off. PCB has missed the chance I think. We should forget that the Indian team will ever come to Pakistan now. Just forget it. The only way you could have brought India here was by an ICC event,” Shehzad told on YouTuber Nadir Ali’s show.
Stadium on the India-Pakistan border?
Shehzad also made a bizarre suggestion about building a cricket stadium at the India-Pakistan border. Notably, the PCB had reportedly offered the BCCI to let India play all their matches in Lahore and return to Punjab the same day via the Attari border during the negotiations for the Champions Trophy. However, their offer was turned down by the BCCI.
Shehzad said a stadium can be built at the stadium with one gate opening towards India and the other towards Pakistan to make it easy for players from both countries to travel and play at the venue.
“I did a podcast where I suggested the idea of building a stadium by the border. One gate would be towards India, the other gate would be towards Pakistan. The players would come from the respective gates and play. But even then there would be issues for the BCCI and their government. When their players come to the field by our side, they would need visas which they would not get,” said the Pakistan batter.
India and Pakistan have not played bilateral cricket against each other since 2013 due to political tensions between the two countries. While Pakistan have continued to travelled to India for major ICC events, including the T20 World Cup in 2016 and the ODI World Cup last year, India have not travelled to Pakistan for any tournament since 2008.
Pakistan batter Ahmed Shehzad blasted the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for agreeing to a hybrid model for the Champions Trophy 2025. Shehzad believes PCB missed a golden chance to host India in Pakistan. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
